Beef and Lemongrass Meatloaf - Helen Goh recipe

How were your Christmas celebrations?  I hope you had a fabulous time with family and friends.

Now that Christmas is over, it is back to normal in the eating and drinking department.  If you are looking for a break from that leftover turkey and ham, I can highly recommend Helen Goh's Chicken and Lemongrass Meatloaf.  Helen states that it can also be made with pork or beef mince, so I chose beef.

This meatloaf is unique in that it contains lots of Asian flavours - lemongrass, chilli, ginger, coriander, fish sauce and soy.  It is quite a big meatloaf - I got 10 serves out of it, perfect for freezing some for another day.

If you would like to try this meatloaf, you will need:

2 slices white bread
120ml milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 chopped onion
2 minced cloves garlic
thumb sized knob of ginger, minced
2 minced stalks lemongrass
1 minced red chilli
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves and stalks
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 kg chicken, pork or beef mince
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Glaze

2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Tear the crusts off the bread and rip the slices into small pieces. Put the bread pieces in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle over the milk, and set aside to soak.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chilli, cook for a minute, then remove from heat. Add the onion mixture to the bread mixture and allow to cool.

Add the coriander, fish sauce, soy sauce, eggs, sugar, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix with your hands to combine. Add the minced meat and mix gently until combined. Chill the mixture in the fridge and preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Press the mixture into a 23cm x 12cm x 7cm loaf tin, packing it down to remove any air pockets. Cover the pan loosely with a large, double layer of aluminium foil, then place a rimmed baking tray over it. Carefully flip over the tray so that the foil is on the bottom and the meatloaf is upside down, with the loaf tin over it. Loosen the foil and spread it out, as if lining the base of the baking tray. Put the meatloaf in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. 

Remove the meatloaf from the oven and carefully lift off the loaf tin. Return the meatloaf to the oven without the loaf tin and bake for a further 20 minutes. 

While the meatloaf is cooking, make the glaze by combining the glaze ingredients in a small bowl.

Remove the meatloaf from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 22o degrees Celsius. Spoon the glaze over the top of the meatloaf and return it to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes, brushing the meatloaf with the glaze a couple of times during that time. 

Take the meatloaf out of the oven and allow it to rest on the baking tray for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.